Hello
Soon to be made redundant, will give up my trusty company Focus, need to buy something and am hoping for some help.
OK here goes,
£5K to spend, want Focus size vehicle, Diesel if possible, will be doing 15-25K miles per year, mostly motorways.
Love the Focus handling, but this is not so important if I am driving my 'own' vehicle as I wont be thrashing it quite so much.
Servicing, Insurance, Fuel costs (or lack of) quite important as I have a feeling I am going to be skint for a while before getting the new business going.
Any advice most appreciated.
Cheers
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Drink Lager Talk Piffle
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Seat Leon or Skoda both in tdi form? I would avoid the 306 which will no doubt be suggested. Citroen Xsara HDI also perhaps...
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Found myself in a similar position a couple of months ago. I decided to buy at auction and had narrowed it down to a Mondeo or something Japanese (626, Primera, Avenis). My budget was £3k and I had earmarked an extra £500 to cover a cambelt change, full service and any bits and pieces . I bought a 97 Mondeo 2 litre petrol, high mileage (107K). It?s the less popular 4 door and wasn?t much money at £1,160 inc buyers premium. I?ve now done 3,000 trouble free miles in it and rate it highly especially on the motorway where it is quiet and refined and it handles way better than my 2000 Passat (ex company car). At £5K you?ll have a much wider choice. I visited a number of local dealers and drove the cars I was considering ? the Mondeo and Primera were streets ahead of the others IMO. I?m a diesel fan but second hand prices seem so much higher compared to petrol that the potential fuel savings you make mean you?re going to be sitting in a much older car and the service schedules with older diesels aren't always on a par with petrol. Good luck with the search and also with the new business.
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I'd also check out the fully maintained leasing deals around. Having a fixed cost would help with the budgeting and avoid a lot of the surprises. Small cars like corsas and micras are often around the £100-£120 a month mark on contract hire so if you weren't carrying anything bulky and were just moving yourself around the country they could prove quite cost effective.
teabelly
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Hmmm.... if you can find a nice Seat Toledo or Skoda Octavia TDi (or SDi if you don't need the performance) at auction, that would be a good bet. £3500 if you don't mind miles and you're lucky. An early Focus would also be a good bet as they seem to last and aren't always too expensive. Budget for a cam belt change, whatever you get, unless you know it's already been done.
Alternatively, if the budget is really tight, the low four figures will get something like an older Vectra/Mondeo, although there again there is a risk of more maintenance being needed. Japanese diesels are rare at this age, and not especially good, and petrols could be quite a bit thirstier.
As for leasing deals - £100-£120 will get you a new small car, just, as long as it's plus VAT, plus maintenance and 10k miles a year only.
If CBG is self employed in a new venture, this could really hurt his credit rating, especially with the specialist busines providers. He will be able to get finance, but at a higher rate to reflect the allegedly higher risk, whether this is expressed in terms of interest or not.
A more realistic contract hire figure for 20k a year, fully maintained (although this would only be servicing to 60k and so doesn't look that cost effective), is probably nearer £200 a month including VAT.
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Thanks very much all, given me lots to think about, got a while before I am shown the door so will do my homework.
Regards and a Very Merry Christmas to you all.
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Drink Lager Talk Piffle
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406 hdi 110 bhp
The record breaker - peugeot are *still* the leader in diesel technology after 8 years or so: www.fastlane.com.au/Features/Peugeot_bowserbuster....m
High depreciation on 406 cars (especially estate models) means you get a lot of car for 5 grand.
VW/Audi/Skoda probably a close second, although give a choice between a PUG and a german car with all the charisma of the berlin wall, I would choose the pug any day.
But then, I'm biased.
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